Understanding Stem Cell Registry in India

For a successful Blood Stem Cell Transplant, the patients’ genetic typing (HLA Typing – redirect to HLA page) needs to closely match with that of the donor.

Every patient has a 25% chance of finding a match within the family. However, the rest of the patients do not find a suitable donor within the family and there is a need to find an Unrelated Blood Stem Cell Donor or a Cord Blood Unit.

Donor registries work towards creating a diverse database where the search of a life-saving donor meets a match. There are over 80 Blood Stem Cell Donors Registries & more than 30 Million registered Blood Stem Cell Donors across the globe, with a very few Indians being a part of it.

In an Indian population of 1.3 billion, only around four lakh people are registered as blood stem cell donors. This reduces the chances of finding a possible match for a patient of Indian origin. India is in real need of a functional registry with donors belonging to diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Through systematic donor drives, DATRI seeks to build awareness and enrol potential Blood Stem Cell Donors.

DATRI is a Not-for-Profit organization that was founded in 2009 with a mission to save lives of those suffering from life threatening fatal blood disorders like Blood Cancer, Thalassemia, Leukaemia, Aplastic Anaemia, and Sickle Cell Anaemia etc.

DATRI is working towards creating a wide and diverse database of potential Blood Stem Cell Donors that can be accessed by any patient, living anywhere in the world, in need of a Blood Stem Cell Transplant.

They are headquartered in Chennai but have offices in major cities all over India. DATRI is registered with the Government of India as a Section 8 organization and all monetary contributions towards DATRI are subject to 80G exemptions.

DKMS, Jeevan, Be the cure are some of the other registries in India. There are several other registries in India but only a handful are active ones.